Borrow My Heart
by DamonsGurl95
Summary: A tale of love and of course the Avengers. I recommend being up to date with all Marvel movies in the Avengers universe and watch the first few episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. before reading as there are some spoilers.
1. Here I Am

**Borrow My Heart**

An Avengers Story

_Based on the song by Taylor Henderson_

A/N: This story is based after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and contains spoilers so please watch it before reading further. Also if you haven't seen the first couple of episodes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I would suggest you do so before reading. Basically be up to date with all of the Marvel movies within the Avengers universe.

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers characters of films; they are the property of Marvel Studios.

**Chapter 1 – Here I am**

Natasha walked out of the hearing feeling exhausted, she had been ambushed by the press and the congressional hearing people for the last week and just wanted to go home, wherever that is, to have a bubble bath and glass of wine. Make that a bottle; it had been a very long week.

As she walked towards her car Natasha became aware of her phone ringing very loudly to the AC/DC song 'Shoot To Thrill'. She groaned, the last thing Natasha wanted right at that moment was to speak to Tony Stark. Ignoring the phone Natasha got into her car and sped away from the flashing of camera crew and the annoying voices of news people. Again her phone rang blasting out 'Shoot To Thrill'.

Natasha sighed and answered, "what is it Stark?"

"She actually answers," came the comical laughter response of the infamous Tony Stark.

"I can hang up if you want," Natasha sternly responded.

"No, no wait, okay. I was calling to see if you would come to Stark Tower, I'm trying to get the band back together, with the fate of the world now being in peril and all without a proper true 'S.H.I.E.L.D'."

Natasha thought for a moment, "if you behave I'll be there shortly, just have some things to clear up first."

"No problem."

Natasha pulled her car up at the cemetery; she spotted Rogers and Wilson standing by a gravestone with a man wearing a hoodie. She smiled; of course Fury would be here to look at his own gravestone.

"You should be honoured that's about as close as he gets to saying thank you," Natasha spoke as she approached the two men.

"Not going with him?" Captain Rogers asked with a tight-lipped smile.

"No," Natasha said shaking her head.

"Not staying here," Rogers stated, already knowing the response.

"I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one."

"That might take a while."

"I'm counting on it," Natasha spoke with a small smile, "that thing you asked for I called in a few favours from Kiev," She handed the captain a file, "Will you do me a favour? Call that nurse."

"She's not a nurse."

"And you're not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."

"What was her name again?"

"Sharon. She's nice."

Natasha leaned forward to plant a kiss on Steve's cheek and walked away, "be careful Steve, might not want to pull on that thread."

No response followed Natasha as she walked back to her car thinking about what could be next for her, for The Avengers, and for S.H.I.E.L.D. if there even was a S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Natasha got into her car and sped off trying to push all thoughts of 'what if's' out of her mind.

It took about four hours to get through traffic to Stark Tower. Natasha became aware of slight anxiety as she approached the parking garage of the tower, she hadn't been there since New York, she didn't realise that it would affect her to come back, especially cause it had been two years. Natasha hoped that her anxiety wouldn't show to Stark, the last thing she needed at this moment was to deal with his teasing.

The gates to the garage opened and Natasha drove her car into an available parking spot. She proceeded to get out, grabbing her duffle bag and lock the car as she made her way to the lift that would take her to the living quarters, where Pepper and Tony had been living since the fall of his holiday home, neither had been wanting to re-build just yet.

Natasha made it to the top and was greeted by J.A.R.V.I.S., "Miss Romanoff welcome, Mr Stark and Miss Potts are in the kitchen."

Natasha nodded, "thanks J.A.R.V.I.S.," she said walking towards the kitchen.

As she entered Natasha spotted that the couple were arguing.

"Why do you insist on making more suits?" Pepper snapped exasperatedly.

"Do you realise how many were…" Tony stopped upon realising that they were no longer alone, "Romanoff, glad you came, good timing, let me show you to your room," he said hurriedly, he quickly walked out leading Natasha out of the kitchen and down a hallway.

Natasha tried not to laugh at Tony's clear uncomfortableness at having an argument in front a colleague, after all that is what Natasha is, she's an Avenger same as him, a colleague not just a friend.

"Well this room will be yours," Tony spoke, "do you know how I can get myself out of this?"

Natasha laughed, "the great Tony Stark needs my help with a girl," she teased.

"I just need to know how to make things better, my work is the suits," Tony practically begged.

"Okay, well take her out to dinner and tell her how much you love her and make her feel one of a kind."

"I never thought of those ideas," Tony sarcastically responded.

Natasha shook her head, "okay well go enjoy explaining to her whatever it is," smirking Natasha turned away from Stark and placed her duffle bag onto the floor by the bed.

Tony groaned as he exited the room, slamming the door behind himself. Natasha felt like she could finally relax. She sat on the bed and allowed her body to relax, letting go of all of the thoughts and emotions that had plagued her thoughts and body over the last few months.

Just as she was about to lie down and take a nap there was a knock on the door.


	2. Everything Has Changed

**Chapter 2 – Everything Has Changed**

Groaning Natasha called out, "come in."

The door opened and Bruce Banner walked in, looking hesitant.

Natasha stood up giving Bruce a small smile and motioning for him to sit beside her on the bed. They both awkwardly moved to the bed and sat down. Natasha had had a crush on Bruce since their first meeting when she had gone to get him for the Avengers initiative. Bruce had had a similar view of Natasha, even fearing for her life when he was forced to take the form of the Hulk on the helicarrier.

Bruce looked at Natasha, "how have you been?"

"Umm… okay I guess," Natasha responded, she could read in Bruce's eyes that he had read her file online. Why had she agreed to do that again? She felt broken down and knew that Bruce would not judge her if she did breakdown but she was too scared, not knowing how Bruce felt about her file made Natasha feel unnerved. She didn't want to react just in case Bruce was disappointed, she couldn't handle that.

"I uh read…" Bruce started.

Natasha's head fell, "what did you think?"

"I don't judge you for it, the past is the past. I of all people know that the past makes us who we are today. You are a good person today because of what you did and went through in your past," Bruce explained.

Natasha slowly lifted her head up, the look of shock and confusion was clear on her face. What was going on? She thought, why wasn't he repulsed, angry, disappointed?

Bruce slowly moved closer to Natasha, reading the confusion on her face and in her body language. He hoped by sitting closer that she would see that he was actually proud of her.

"You look confused by something," Bruce stated.

Natasha looked at him, realisation struck over just how closely he was sitting next to her, she could read the care on his face and after a few moments passed she decided that it was safe to talk to him about her confusion and maybe even her fear.

"How are you so okay with it? Even Clint was angry about my past and he's known me better than most people. I just don't understand why you actually look completely calm about it all."

Bruce could hear the vulnerability in Natasha's voice as she spoke. He realised that no one had reacted well when they had her past revealed to them.

"You were doing what you thought was right, you have since made a change for the better but as I said I can not judge you for your past. You showed so much courage by posting your past out on the web for the whole world to see, at least a part of you was not scared about what people would think. You did what you had to in order to save the lives of millions of people, Natasha as far as I'm concerned that makes you a hero. Why does it bother you what people think? Everyone makes mistakes in their past, that's why it's called the past."

"I don't care what people think," Natasha said stubbornly, "I just care about what my colleagues think, Hill, the Avengers… you," she whispered the last part.

Bruce was slightly taken aback by her statement; never in a million years did he think that he would have a woman care about his opinion of her.

"Natasha I don't know how many times I can say it but I'm not judging you. I think that you are courageous and caring and an amazing human being. I have never met someone who is so understanding of who I am, in turn I am absolutely understanding of your past," Bruce put as much emphasis on that statement as he could, just wanting her to see that what was in her file was the past and that she is no longer who she was.

"I have never met someone who is so understanding of me, that's why I am finding it so hard to come to grips with what you are saying to me. That you aren't affected by my past, by who I used to be, who I was," Natasha explained, she felt tears burning her eyes.

The amount of support that Bruce was showing her was a new thing for her to experience and she was overwhelmed by not only the compassion that Bruce showed her but also by the events of the last few months, particularly her time with Steve and the Winter Soldier. Natasha tried her best to hold the tears at bay but it wasn't easy, she wasn't used to this kind of emotion. She most certainly was not used to the actions of people that she was about to experience. Bruce leaned over and hugged Natasha, her head fell to his shoulder and she cried and cried, letting out all of her feelings that had been building up.

After ten minutes she slowly pulled back and Bruce wiped away the tears that fell.

"Don't be so tough all the time, everyone needs to cry and express their feelings every now and again," Bruce whispered gently.

Natasha looked into his eyes and whispered, "thank you for being here and letting me do that, it means a lot to me. I didn't think that anyone would be so accepting."

Slowly their faces came together, their lips met in a soft and passionate kiss.


	3. Meet Me Halfway

**Chapter 3 – Meet Me Halfway**

A/N: If you have not seen the first 2 episodes of Marvel's Agents Of Shield DO NOT read this chapter until you do, major spoilers!

They slowly pulled apart and leaned their foreheads together; small smiles crept onto their faces. Bruce gently moved a loose bit of hair behind Natasha's ear, the caress made Natasha smile deeper.

The door slammed open and the two turned their heads to look at who had disturbed their moment.

Tony came rushing in looking like he had just seen a ghost; Pepper was close behind him with a similar expression on her face. Natasha and Bruce shared a worried look as they rose from the bed to help their friends to sit on the bed. Neither of them had ever seen Tony Stark look so terrified and shocked, they knew that whatever had happened was obviously life changing and unexpected.

"Tony, what's happened?" Natasha asked gently as he and Pepper sat on Natasha's bed.

"I, um, I think I just spoke to a ghost," Tony responded, clearly still trying to get his head around whatever had happened.

"What do you mean?" Bruce queried.

"Phil Coulson," the couple spoke in unison.

Natasha had to sit down herself, she had known Coulson for longer than anyone else in the room and his death had affected her deeply. After New York she had kept her distance from anyone associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. for three months in order to grieve without having to put up a façade to her colleagues.

Bruce looked shocked, "how is that possible?"

"He told us what had happened but I can't even comprehend it," Pepper spoke up.

"Basically he was barely alive but he survived and Fury had him brought back from the brink. Until now he wasn't gonna even tell us he was alive but he wanted to make sure that we were all okay after this drama with S.H.I.E.L.D. being HYDRA and all that," Tony explained.

Natasha felt overwhelmed by emotion and Bruce could see it on her face, he moved forward to hug her. This time he was happy with her tears, they weren't made from sadness or loss but of life and joy that a dear friend was not really dead.

Pepper and Tony were pulled from their shock to smirk at the pair who looked so happy to be together, what had happened since Tony had sent Bruce in here at his request. Tony had not expected those two to be a couple.

Natasha pulled away and Bruce helped her to wipe away the tears, they became aware of the stares they were getting from their friends. They turned around smiling.

Pepper let out a little squeal and her and Natasha hugged, giggling like little girls. Bruce and Tony chuckled and shook hands.

"About time you two," Pepper smirked.

Natasha playfully swatted her arm. Bruce gave them a curious look. Tony laughed.

"Okay, no need to bring up our private convos Pepper," Natasha spoke annoyed, she turned to look at Bruce, "so I might of liked you for a while."

Bruce smiled, "I've felt the same for a long time too."

"Apologies for the interruption but sir there is a phone call for you," J.A.R.V.I.S. voice was heard over the loudspeaker.

"Send it through J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony requested.

There was a crackle as the phone was answered and Tony spoke, "Stark."

"Hey man, what's happening? I got your message, life sounds ruff."

Tony looked really confused, "who is this?"

Natasha smirked, it was Clint, he was on a mission and Tony had clearly caught him in the middle of it. She knew which alias that he was using and fell into her own character to respond.

"Dude get your ass home now! Dad is so pissed with your behaviour," Natasha snapped.

"Whatever sis tell dad it ain't happening," Clint responded, Natasha knew that he was probably with the people he was tricking so she kept up her alias.

"Well you'll be the idiot looking for a new home, we're moving idiot."

"What?! Ugh whatever tell dad to chill I'm on my way."

The line went dead.

"What was that?" Tony asked confusedly.

"Clint was sent on a mission two months ago to infiltrate a gang, he didn't want to be going after anyone that isn't human," Natasha explained, "before he left he told me which alias he was using so I knew what role to slip into if he called."

Bruce, Tony and Pepper all nodded and let out a collective sigh, as they understood what was going on.

The four made a silent agreement to move out of Natasha's room and out to the living area.

As they sat down a crash of thunder could be heard in the distance making the group jump.


	4. Thunderstruck

**Chapter 4 - Thunderstruck**

The four got up and went over to the window to see what was happening.

"Did you call a certain demi god?" Pepper asked the group.

A collective "no" responded.

"I don't even know how to contact him," Tony defended.

They watched the bolts of lightening coming closer to them and without realising it they all ducked as if they would be hit by the bolts if they didn't. The demi god stood on the terrace, the doors were shut so Tony had to move forward to open them & let their friend in.

Thor followed Tony into the room.

"Hello friends," Thor spoke.

After the greetings they all sat on the three couches.

After an awkward silence Tony stood up and spoke, "can I offer you all a drink?"

"What you got?" Natasha asked.

"Beer, wine, spirits, water," Tony listed.

"White," Pepper smiled.

"Beer," Natasha, Bruce and Thor collectively responded.

The group laughed at the synchronicity.

Tony walked off to collect the drinks from his bar.

"What brings you from Asgard?" Bruce asked Thor.

"I got word from Miss Foster that there was a crisis with S.H.I.E.L.D. and thought to see if there was truth with my own eyes," the demi god responded.

Tony returned with a tray of drinks and handed them to their respective drinkers, "well my demi god friend S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists, probably never did. It's HYDRA."

Natasha's eyes darkened slightly, she had been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. so that she could redeem herself and having been involved in finding out the truth she was devastated. She didn't know who to trust anymore. She did trust her friends in this room as each had already proved to her that they are good people and not con-artists.

Bruce noticed the change in her demeanor and gently grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Natasha looked at him gratefully and relaxed, taking a sip of her beer.

Thor noticed the movements between the two and thought about how to react to it. Before he had a chance however the sound of Sia's 'Chandelier' could be heard around the room.

Tony had manually turned on the sound system and played whatever was already connected, Pepper's iPod. Laughter filled the room as Tony blushed, clearly embarrassed that he didn't know what was going to play.

"This suits you Tony," a voice from the direction of the lift spoke.

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice to see none other than Tony's right-hand man Colonel James Rhodes. Tony glared at his friend and poked his tongue out, an action met by roaring laughter.

Natasha, wanting to take advantage of Tony's immaturity spoke up, "Pepper I didn't know your boyfriend was 10 years old, you cougar."

Pepper laughed, "thanks Tasha, he's actually 16," she teased.

Tony looked annoyed that he had become the butt of everyone's jokes but he decided to go along with it and in a high pitched voice said, "I'm turning 17 unlike Mr Rhodes who is in his late 70's."

The laughter stopped and everyone shook their heads at the billionaire. Tony changed the song to ACDC's 'Thunderstruck' and sat by Pepper. Rhodes sat down beside the couple after greeting everyone.

"So why didn't you guys laugh at my joke?" Tony asked curiously.

Everyone shrugged.

"It couldn't really go much further, you were our comic relief," Bruce explained.

Tony shrugged it off and started asking about what they had each been up to since they had last all been together.

Pepper looked at Natasha and motioned for her to follow her. The two ladies stood up and walked towards the kitchen holding their drinks. The guys didn't comment on their departure, they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice.

Natasha and Pepper say down at the breakfast bar stools and laughed. They weren't entirely sure why but they did.

"I haven't laughed like that in so long," Natasha confessed.

"Could it have something to do with a certain doctor," Pepper stated.

Natasha smiled, "I've never felt this way before, it's kinda scary but also exciting."

Pepper grinned and hugged Natasha, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks," Natasha replied as they pulled out of the hug.

"What was..." Pepper was stopped mid-sentence by the sound of the lift doors opening and the guys laughing.

Without a word the ladies went to investigate.


	5. Don't Lie

**Chapter 5 – Don't Lie**

Natasha and Pepper walked into the living area to see why the guys were laughing, as they turned to look toward the lift they burst into laughter themselves.

Clint Barton was stood there dressed in low wasted shorts and a t-shirt that was clearly too big for him, he also donned a cap that he was wearing backwards. He looked like a true white gangsta.

Clint rolled his eyes at his friends, "okay enough with the laughter, what did you expect? I was infiltrating a gang in Queens. They dress gangsta like, I had to fit in if I was going to be a part of their crew."

"Would you like some big boy clothes?" Tony tormented.

Clint glared at him but he had no choice but to say yes.

The two men left the room heading down the hallway that contained the various bedrooms.

Natasha and Pepper took their seats back on the couches. Before they could get comfortable however, the doors to the lift opened again. This time revealing Maria Hill who looked frustrated.

"Hey Maria, what's up?" Natasha asked her friend whom she had gone through S.H.I.E.L.D. training with.

Maria sighed as she took a seat on the spare couch, "Nat I'm so sick of having to be on call for Fury all the time."

Natasha nodded in understanding. Maria was Fury's right-hand girl, always there when he needed someone.

"I'll get you a beer," Pepper said, walking over to the bar.

Maria gratefully took the beer.

"He disappeared though, didn't he? I thought he wanted to get away," Natasha questioned.

Maria laughed bitterly and sighed, "well he has gone now but before he did he had me book flights to various destinations and book hotels and cars for him in each place. I've spent most of the day doing that, then I got a text from Clint to come here cause Stark wanted all Avengers here. Not that I'm an Avenger but he said that I helped you guys enough to warrant an invite."

"Well he's not wrong about that," Bruce stated.

The group nodded their agreement.

"You were a large help," Tony agreed as he and Clint re-entered the room. Clint was now looking like his usual self.

Clint took up a spot next to Maria on the couch and Tony sat next to Pepper. There was a comfortable silence in the room, well until Natasha's phone rang, filling the room.

Natasha had been comfortably sat beside Bruce with his arm around her waist and the ringing of her phone disturbed that comfortableness. She was forced to move away from Bruce in order to get her phone out of her pocket. She sat back in position beside Bruce before she answered.

"Romanoff…. Hi Steve, what's up?... Yeah….. Okay…. Oh, fair enough….. Okay well we'll see you soon… Yep… Bye."

Everyone turned to look at Natasha as she hung up, all wanting to know what Steve had revealed to her.

"Well Steve is about 10 minutes out, he decided that he wasn't ready to face what he could be forced to see if he pursued what he was planning to look into," Natasha explained ambiguously.

"Could you be more vague," Tony groaned.

Natasha and Clint laughed, "yep," they responded in unison.

"Nat is the best at being vague, hence Fury prefers her over the rest of us for missions," Maria said jokingly.

"I'm just a better interrogator," Natasha teased.

The group was in fits of laughter. They turned towards the lift as they heard the sound of it stopping on their floor, the doors opened and Steve Rogers walked over to them, greeting each person in the room. He sat down on an empty armchair next to the couch that Natasha and Bruce were sat on. By this time it was dark outside so Tony ordered pizzas, he was too lazy to cook.

The pizzas arrived within the hour and they all grabbed some on the plates that Pepper has handed out. As they got comfortable Tony had a mischievous look on his face.

"Well now that we're all comfortable let's play a game," Tony said with a huge grin planted on his face.

They all looked at him like he was possibly crazy, they were grown adults who saved the world why would they want to play some ridiculous game.

"What game Stark?" Thor asked, everyone else groaned.

"Truth or dare," Tony smirked.

A collection of groans & mumbled "fine" filled the room.

Tony grinned, this had everyone worried.

"Alright, who to choose first. Hmmmm. Okay, Bruce truth or dare?" Tony asked.

Bruce gave Natasha a nervous look before responding, "truth."

Tony gave him a wicked grin, "when did you first know you liked Nat as more than a friend?"

Bruce shrugged, "when I saw the fear in her eyes on the hellicarrier, she wasn't scared of the other guy but for me," he explained.

Natasha smiled at him and gently squeezed his hand that wasn't around her waist. That was the moment she knew she liked him too.

Bruce thought for a moment before speaking, "Clint truth or dare?"

Clint looked thoughtful as he responded, "dare."

Bruce smirked in an all to like Tony way, something that scared Clint.

"I dare you to kiss Maria," Bruce winked at Natasha as he said it.

Clint and Maria looked around the room, refusing to look at each other.

"You wanted a dare, get to it," Steve spoke.

"Someone's spent too much time with Tony," Clint teased as he tried to avoid the dare.

Clint received a glare from everyone in the room. He sighed and looked at Maria, slowly he leaned forward and their lips touched.

Natasha and Pepper smiled.

Thor cleared his throat loudly and the couple pulled apart blushing slightly. Clint put his arm around Maria as they got comfortable once again.

"Alright, Nat truth or dare?" Clint asked.

Natasha thought for a moment, "dare."

Clint grinned, "I dare you to write on Facebook 'I love the Hulk' and tag Bruce."

Natasha laughed, "no problem, next time go with something that would actually make me uncomfortable," she teased.

After Natasha had fulfilled her dare she looked around to see who she would choose. As she thought about who to choose, everyone put their empty plates onto the coffee table.

Natasha smiled, "Thor truth or dare?"

"Truth," Thor responded, not thinking about his response.

"How many times had you visited Earth before Odin sent you here as punishment?"

Thor shrugged, "about 10."

Natasha nodded.

"Steve, my friend, truth or dare?" Thor asked.

"Truth," the captain spoke.

"Have you ever been in love?"

Natasha perked up at the question, she was just as curious as the demi god. Steve on the other hand looked slightly unsure of what to say.

"No lying!" Tony said.

Steve sighed, "a long time ago yes. I was actually meant to go on a date with a colleague but then I woke up a few years too late," he tried to joke but by the sympathetic looks on his friends faces he hadn't succeeded.

There was a sadness in the room as they all took in what Steve had said.

"Okay, Tony truth or dare?" Steve asked, he wasn't comfortable with the silence.

Tony had a smile on his face, "dare."

Steve laughed, "I dare you to make out with one of your suits."

The group burst into laughter as Tony looked humiliated. Rhodes stood up to go and retrieve the mark 7 from Tony's workshop. He returned five minutes later with a proud smirk on his face.

Turning the suit around Rhodes laughed, "I couldn't help myself."

Again the room filled with laughter as they looked at the suit. Rhodes had painted lipstick onto the 'mouth' of the suit.

Tony glared at his friend, "you're not getting a new suit for the 'Iron Patriot'." He stood up and walked over to Rhodes and the suit.

Reluctantly Tony kissed the suit and tried to ignore the laughter of his friends. When it was over Tony had lipstick on his lips, more laughter ensued.

Tony wiped his lips and sat back down, Rhodes returned the suit to the workshop. When he returned Tony had an evil grin on his face.

"Revenge is a bitch," Tony started as he stared at his friend, "Colonel truth or dare?"

Rhodes raised an eyebrow, "truth."

"What is your current login password?"

Rhodes frowned, "lovetoironpatriot."

"Quit mumbling, what is it?" Tony grinned.

"Love to Iron Patriot," Rhodes spoke louder.

"Mate you should've lied about that one," Clint joked.

Rhodes sighed, "probably. So Maria truth or dare?"

"Dare," Maria said unhesitatingly.

"I dare you to skull two beers as fast as you can," Rhodes smirked, he didn't think that a woman would be able to complete the task.

Maria went to the bar and grabbed two beers. She placed one on the coffee table and opened the other. After taking a deep breath she skulled the first and opened the second, quickly skulling it.

The room filled with cheering and clapping. Maria grinned, she was happy to prove that a woman could do something that a man could. She stood up and took a bow before sitting back down next to Clint.

"Pepper truth or dare?" Maria asked.

"Truth," Pepper spoke.

"Do you want to marry Tony Stark?"


	6. Revolution

**Chapter 6 - Revolution**

"Do you want to marry Tony Stark?" Maria asked Pepper.

All eyes were on Pepper and Tony, everyone curious about their reactions.

"Umm I don't know, we've never discussed it before," Pepper explained, "I do want to at some point though."

Tony looked like he was sweating bullets, Natasha was about to question him about it when he stood up.

"Thank you Maria," Tony said, he stood in front of Pepper and as he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small box, Tony got down on one knee, "Pepper you have been the most consistent part of my life, you are always there through the good, the bad and the ugly. The last few years with you as my partner have been the best of my life, I don't know who I am without you. You make me a better man and I can't thank you enough," Tony opened the box and looked directly into Pepper's eyes as he asked, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Pepper was so shocked that she didn't know what to say, she definitely did not see this coming. Tears filled her eyes and a smiled spread across her face as she took in everything that he had said. She couldn't bring herself to speak through all of the emotions so she simply nodded her head vigorously.

Tony gently pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it into Pepper's ring finger. He discarded the box onto the table and stood up, taking Pepper with him, they embraced and shared a passionate kiss to the cheering of their friends around them.

After the couple pulled apart they smiled at their friends who had stood up to offer individual congratulations to the couple.

When everyone sat down Rhodes went into the bar and returned with two bottles of champagne and 9 glasses. He set it all onto the table and poured the drink into the glasses and handed them around until everyone was holding one.

"To the happy couple, may you have an enjoyable engagement and enjoy the wedding planning," Steve spoke.

"Cheers," came the response of the group as they raised their glasses in celebration.

"Thank you all," Tony started with a smile, "I especially want to thank Maria who I handed a sheet of paper to after getting Hawkeye into age appropriate clothing and she well executed my plan. Most of all I want to thank my gorgeous fiancé."

Another chorus of "cheers" filled the room.

As everyone sat back down and got comfortable they finished their champagne and relaxed.

It was after midnight by the time everyone bid their good nights and headed to the various bedrooms that were always set up for them.

The only people who stayed on the couches were Tony, Pepper, Natasha and Bruce. They had taken up positions slightly closer together so as to not disturb their friends who had gone to bed.

Natasha rested her head on Bruce's shoulder and curled her legs up onto the couch, Bruce had his arm around her waist resting his head against hers. Pepper was sat on Tony's lap with her arms around his neck and his arms around her waist.

"Did you ever think you'd wake up today and be going to bed engaged?" Natasha asked Pepper with a small smile.

Pepper smiled and laughed, "we'd never talked about it before, I had wanted to but it never seemed like the right time. I definitely did not expect it to happen today though."

"You probably didn't expect to have a boyfriend by the end of the day either," Tony said to Natasha.

Natasha smiled and shook her head, "definitely not but I'm glad it happened," she kissed Bruce's cheek.

"I don't think that this day went the way that any of us had planned or thought it would. It definitely turned out for the better," Bruce said.

"Absolutely," Natasha, Pepper and Tony agreed with smiles planted across their faces.

It was after 1am when the four decided that it would be a good idea to head for bed. As they got up so say their goodnights a crash echoed through the tower and the force sent the four flying across the room.


	7. All About You part 1

**Chapter 7 – All About You**

Thick smoke filled the room, as the four heroes lay unconscious on the ground.

A dark figure walked through the smoke towards the four and picked up Natasha throwing her over his shoulder. He walked towards the lift and disappeared without a trace.

*Five minutes later*

Steve, Thor, Rhodes, Clint, and Maria came running as they had been woken by the commotion. As they reached their friends the smoke dissipated with a little help from J.A.R.V.I.S. using the vacuums on the roof.

Tony was the first to wake, he crawled over to Pepper who was mere inches from where he was and noticed a small cut on her forehead, nothing life threatening. From his touch Pepper's eyes flickered open at the same time that Bruce woke.

Bruce looked frantically around the room for Natasha but he couldn't see her. He stood up a little too quickly and stumbled, Clint and Steve grabbed his arms before he could fall.

"Where's Natasha?" Bruce asked frantically, his voice coming out barely louder than a whisper.

Bruce looked frightened, he had only just got Natasha and now he had lost her.

It began to sink in that Natasha really wasn't there and that someone had taken her. Clint and Steve led Bruce to the couch that Thor had just put back upright.

Rhodes had disappeared to the workshop where Tony also kept the security camera footage to see who or what was to blame for this incident.

Pepper and Tony were a lot more stable on their feet than Bruce was and so they went to their room to clean and fix the cut on Pepper's forehead.

"We'll find her," Steve promised Bruce who had tears in his eyes.

Maria was on the phone trying to contact Fury.

Bruce had his head buried in his hands trying to hold back the sobs. Steve was sat beside him gently rubbing Bruce's back, hoping that he was helping his friend and not making him uncomfortable.

Clint was pacing around the room and rethinking his decision to go to bed last night, wishing that he had have stayed up. He knew Natasha better than anyone in the room maybe he could've done something to save her, maybe he could've spared Bruce from the emotions that he was having to deal with now.

Maria had managed to contact Fury and he was on his way. She put her phone in her pyjama pants pocket and walked over to Clint, she could see the distress in his eyes and was sure that they were thinking the same thing. They had been friends with Natasha for years, Fury truly only trusted the three of them and Coulson, take one of them away and Fury would be out for blood.

"Don't be thinking what I know you are, it's not your fault, there's nothing that we could have done. If whoever or whatever it was that took her wants a fight they've got it, if they wanted to take out a key member they did it. Fury will have their heads and the rest of us will get Nat back no matter the cost," Maria said as she hugged Clint, his head was buried in the crook of her shoulder and neck.

The mood in the room was very flat, the team were frantically trying to come up with a way to save Natasha. No one spoke for fear of further upsetting Bruce and getting his hopes up only to have them crushed because they couldn't adequately come up with a sufficiently good idea.

After about hour the doors of the lift opened to reveal S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nicholas Fury.

Fury looked around the room at the group before him, they were all sat around the room looking drawn, no one looked up at his entrance.

"Did I walk in on a party? What are you all doing? Why aren't you working to find Agent Romanoff?" Fury questioned loudly.

Everyone jumped at the sound of his voice, they were not expecting it.


	8. All About You part 2

Chapter 8 - All About You part 2

Natasha was sat on a chair in the centre of a dark room, her hands and feet were chained to the arms and legs of the chair. There is no light in the room, she can't see anything. Natasha's eyes were growing weary, her head was pounding, the last thing she remembered was Bruce's arm around her waist as they got ready to head for bed. She could feel something slipping down her leg but her neck hurt too much to move it and find out what was on her leg. Natasha's eyes closed, now too heavy to stay open.

Natasha was laying on her bed in Stark Tower four days after they saved New York. She had been heading to The Hamptons with Clint after Fury had ordered them to relax and enjoy a few weeks off. She hadn't really wanted to go, she wanted to stay in New York where she could be helpful but had reluctantly agreed to let Clint drag her along. By the end of the first day Natasha had decided to go back to New York, she needed to face the things that had haunted her since the day she met Bruce Banner.

After getting in contact with Tony Natasha was on a private helicopter to Stark Tower. When she had arrived Tony had told her that the bedroom she had occupied as Natalie was still in tact and that he was going to be in the lab if she needed anything.

So here she was lying on her bed two days later. Her mind was stuck on her fears for Bruce and her fears of the Hulk.

Natasha was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on her door, not in the mood for company she ignored it. There was a pause and then the knocking continued, Natasha reluctantly got up and walked to the door. She opened it then quickly walked back to the bed and laid back down not bothering to see who she had let in.

The person closed the door behind them and walked over to Natasha. Seeing her curled up on the bed the person walked around to her side and look at her.

"Tasha?"

Natasha looked up, up at Bruce.

"What are you doing here?" Natasha asked weakly.

"Tony said you were here and could probably use some company," Bruce explained.

Natasha nodded and moved over to make room for Bruce. He laid down beside her, noticing that Natasha looked sad and uneasy.

"What's up?" Bruce asked as he laid on his side facing Natasha.

"I can't sleep. I can't get it out of my head," Natasha whispered.

"It?" Bruce gently asked.

"The other guy."

Bruce's face fell, the last thing he wanted was Natasha to be scared of him.

Natasha read the worry on his face, "not like that! I just he makes you fearful of what could happen. He, you never hurt me. I just want you to know that if the other guy takes over and something happens it's not your fault you're a great guy, you would never hurt anyone."

Bruce looked shocked, no one had ever said something like that to him, everyone always judged and simply thought he was the other guy.

*crack*

Natasha screamed as she felt her ankle break from some unknown source.

"Not as strong as you act are you!" Someone mocked, Natasha couldn't clearly see the person.

Her eyes throbbed. Natasha wished she could be back in that moment with Bruce again. Trying to ignore the pain coursing through her body Natasha forced herself to glare at the man, her head ached from the action but she ignored it, she couldn't afford to show her fear or pain.

The next blow knocked her out cold. Natasha's body slumped forward. The men laughed wickedly and left the bloody, bruised Natasha laying limp in the chair they had chained her to.


	9. Rescue Me

**Chapter 9 - Rescue Me**

Back at Stark Tower Director Fury had the group working to find Natasha and to come up with a rescue plan.

They all knew that it wouldn't be easy but they were determined to make it work, Natasha was one of them and they were going to do whatever it took to get her back.

Bruce was sat on the couch, the only one not helping. He felt useless, Natasha was his girlfriend yet he was too worried and distraught to help out. It had been 24 hours since Natasha was taken, he hadn't slept in over 48 hours. Bruce didn't notice the pain in his muscles until Tony had asked him how long it had been since he'd slept.

Bruce vaguely heard Pepper scolding Tony for his comments. He didn't care though, they all knew he hadn't slept, they all knew he was worried; their comments were blocked from his mind. Bruce was so consumed in his fear and anxiety that he registered nothing.

On the other side of the room the team had stopped their work and were talking about Bruce and what they could or should do to help him.

"He needs to eat & drink..."

"Pizza..."

"What about a shower..."

"Yeah he does smell..."

Pepper looked at the team angrily, "all he needs is Tasha to come back."

Fury approached the group, "then get back to work & find her."

The group looked slightly embarrassed & immediately went back to their tasks. Fury watched for a moment before he decided to check on Bruce himself.

"Dr Banner," Fury acknowledged as he approached the doctor.

Bruce nodded his acknowledgment of Fury's arrival without looking up. Fury could tell Bruce was struggling and decided against asking the man to look at him.

"You know Miss Romanoff better than anyone, including Barton, do you have any idea who would do this?"

Fury watched Bruce's external struggle as he tried to think about the question.

Bruce frowned, he couldn't think of anyone, well not anyone that Natasha had recently expressed concern over. Wait! He thought, last week she said a name, a name he hadn't heard before, what was it? Come on! He mentally shouted, think! It was such a unique name, it had stuck with him for days. Why the hell couldn't he think of it now? Natasha was goodness knows where with goodness knows who and if he could just remember this damn name he would probably know who has her!

"Has anyone heard of someone by the name of Catina?" Clint shouted out from somewhere.

Bruce shot up from his seat, that's it! That's the name he was so desperately trying to remember.

"Natasha mentioned that name last week, she said that the person was an old friend who hadn't been able to recover from the effects of the drug they were injected with. Catina had been out of control, she knew what she was doing and didn't care. When Tasha got away Catina went after her and swore she would get Tasha back by any means possible, she would make her the person she always hated," Bruce said, his voice shaking with rage and fear.

By now the team was gathered around listening to the tale.

Pepper looked worriedly at Tony, Tony grabbed her hand and squeezed it unconsciously.

Clint felt his breath hitch; Maria gently rubbed his arm.

Thor frowned.

Rhodes looked determined.

Steve clenched his fists tightly.

Fury hung his head; he had made it his job to know everything about his agents, including all of the things that could endanger their lives, like old enemies. He had no idea about this person, no idea who she was, what she wanted, nothing. He felt ashamed; he had let down one of his best agents.

Bruce collapsed onto his knees, the rage and fear consuming him. Thoughts flooded his mind as he tried to take control and push the consuming emotions down and out of his mind. It wasn't working, the harder he pushed to rid himself of the emotions, the more he was consumed by them.

Everyone watched on in horror as the rage became unbearable for Bruce and he began to change.

**In a remote place**

Natasha awoke hyperventilating, she was scared completely.

When would her friends arrive?

When would she finally be out of this hell hole?

Who even wanted to harm her?

It must be someone from my past, she thought fearfully.

How was she going to get out of here?

Where was Bruce?

Was he okay?

Did he know who was hurting her?

The pain began to become unbearable as she adjusted to her surrounds and realised the pain in her body. She was aware of broken bones, couldn't even count how many of her bones were broken. Her pain was consuming her.

Natasha's last thought as she fell into unconsciousness yet again was; rescue me and please don't let Bruce need rescuing too.

Bruce and Natasha heard the same words in their minds as they lost themselves;

"This waking nightmare lingers

when will the mirror stop telling lies

I don't know where i've been

or where i'm going

But I can't do it alone

I'm reaching out

Rescue me

Show me who I am

'Cause I can't believe

This is how the story ends

Fight for me

If it's not too late

Help me breathe again

No, this can't be how the story ends

I'm wrapped up and waiting for you

I've lost so much more then i'll ever know

The past, the truth forgotten

find me now

Before I lose it all

I'm crying out"

* * *

><p>Song: Rescue Me<p>

Artist: Kerrie Roberts

Lyrics taken from a href=" . " rel="nofollow"this page/a


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